An extremely rare ant species that lives together with a Tetramorium host colony.
Strongylognathus testaceus
This species is a slave-maker and is only found in nests with its hosts Tetramorium caespitum, Tetramorium impurum and Tetramorium alpestre. It occurs in a range of habitats including steppe habitats and pine forests in Russia.
Since you are not really caring for the Stronglylognathus testaceus we give you the Tetramorium caespitum caresheet.
General
Caring for Tetramorium caespitum is very easy. If this colony is left at piece you should have no problem in raising this colony. These ants are very small so be carefull because they can be escape artists!Food
Tetramorium caespitum are not that picky in regards to food. They mainly eat sugars that come from fruit, sugarwater or ant jellys. For protein the best food for them is fruitflies, mealworms, crickets and other smaller insects. Protein usually gets accepted once the colony grows larger in size. These ants can also eet seeds like grass or chia seeds, make sure to crush the seeds in advance before feeding.Please note that this is a small species and they don't consume a ton of food. Also be carefull with the ants drowing in sugarwater.
If you feed insects from the wild freeze or boil these insects to sterilize them. Skipping this step can introduce mites to your colony.
Humidity
Tetramorium caespitum needs a slightly damp nest. If you hydrate the nest regularly (once or twice a week) you should have no problem in keeping the humidity right for these ants. Always make sure the ants have an external watersource like a test tube when in a nest.Temperature
Tetramorium caespitum does not need to be heated. Keeping them at room temperature is more then fine. Heating these ants will speed up the brood progress but is not needed.Hibernation
Tetramorium caespitum does not hibernate but has a diapause. Keeping these ants around 10-15 degrees during November until March greatly befinits these ants and will stimulate brood production after hibernation.Sting/bite
These ants don't sting or bite. They are agressive and will only become more active when disturbed or something is intruding their nest.These ants will do great in the Esthetic Ants acrylic range.
